Gerhard von Mende (December 25, 1904 – December 16, 1963) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

who was head of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, or Ostministerium, in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. He was a scholar on Asiatic and Muslim minorities within the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and was considered the pioneer of mobilising them as a

fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

against the Communists, while being one of their staunchest advocates within Nazi Germany and post-war West Germany. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he established the Research Service Eastern Europe through financing by the West German foreign office, a company which replicated his activities at the Ostministerium, becoming an intelligence asset for the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and BND.

Early life

von Mende was born on December 25, 1904, in

Riga, Latvia Riga ( ) is the capital, primate, and largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city lim ...

, the son of a banker. Following the invasion by the Soviet Union during the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

, his father was rounded up with the bourgeoisie and executed."How a Mosque for Ex-Nazis Became Center of Radical Islam"
, Ian Johnson. Wall Street Journal. July 12, 2005. Retrieved May 12, 2010. His mother and six siblings would flee to Germany, where he took an interest in studying oppressed minorities in Russia. He studied at Schulpforta from 1920 to 1923,Handbuch der Orientalistik: The Near and Middle East. Wolfgang Behn. Brill, 2006. p. 566. , . and at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

from 1927 to 1932, focusing on Russian, history, and Turkish. von Mende would attend the École Nationale des Langues Orientales Vivantes in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and in 1933 he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Breslau for his writing "Studien zur Kolonization in der Sovietunion." Later he was awarded a doctorate in Slavic studies from the Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin. During this time he had become fluent in Russian, Latvian and French, as well as knowledgeable in Turkish and Arabic. In 1934 he wrote "Die Völker der Sowjetunion," about the struggles of German minorities in the Soviet Union.

Academia

After traveling through the Balkans following his studies, von Mende became a professor at multiple universities, including the

in 1935, University of Posen, and

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. During this time he wrote "Der nationale Kampf der Russlandtürken" in 1936, about the oppression of the Turkish minorities under Soviet rule.

World War II

von Mende was an enthusiastic Nazi,"U.S. support allowed Muslim Brotherhood to expand"
Davis Daycock. May 1, 2010. Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved May 12, 2010. who was

Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head o ...

's specialist on minorities in the Soviet Union. With the outbreak of World War II and subsequent invasion of the East by the Wehrmacht, von Mende was appointed head of the Caucasus division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, although he kept his university position at the University of Berlin.

Creation of Fifth Columnists

Prisoners soon began flowing back West from the occupied territories, where up to a million volunteered for committees established by von Mende to integrate them into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

to fight the Soviet Union. These groups included Tatars, Turks, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Armenians, as well as other non-Russian nationalities. Considered their "Lord-Protector", they were frequently invited into his home in Berlin for long dinners, and he worked with

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German German Army (1935–1945), army officer who is best known for his 20 July plot, failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf ...

to provide them equal status in receiving care, compensation, quarters, and other measures. His work within the General Policy Office of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory led to him being considered the pioneer of using minorities as a fifth column against the Communists in the Soviet Union."The Jihad Factory"
Gal Beckerman. Apr/May 2010. The Book Forum. Retrieved May 12, 2010. Some authors suggest von Mende was the origin of modern "Jihad" through his work at the Ministry.

Post-war

With the war drawing to a close, von Mende worked through the bureaucracy to ensure that as many of the fifth columnists as possible were moved to the West to avoid capture by the Soviet Union, which would result in execution. Many were left stranded and destitute in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, whereby von Mende, faced with little employment prospects of his own with his Nazi past, decided to look after them. He wrote to the British Army explaining his vast intelligence sources on Soviet people, whereby interest was taken initially by them.

Research Service Eastern Europe

Eventually the West German foreign office would fund his company called the "Research Service Eastern Europe""A Mosque in Munich reveals"
, Ian Johnson. Retrieved May 12, 2010. in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, where von Mende would employee many former Nazis specializing in

anti-Communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

propaganda along with his fifth columnists. He managed to receive funding for the Muslims helping him through the West German government to help provide care and shelter for them. This operation was essentially a recreation of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory. The main task of the RSEE was to ensure that the fifth columnist Muslims stayed under the control of the West German government, although during this time von Mende collaborated with the

Fallout with CIA

In 1956 von Mende increasingly became hostile toward the CIA following the creation of their front-group which would rival his RSEE, the American Committee for Liberation from Bolshevism. This group employed former Muslim Nazi Ibrahim Gacaoglu, who would also work for

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

. von Mende however resented foreign interference with West German residents and believed that Muslims living in West Germany should be aligned with their operations. He brought in former Muslim S.S. officer Nurredin Nakibhodscha Namangani to be established as the Hauptimam of West Germany's Muslims, working on the payroll of the West German government. In 1958 Namangani introduced an initiative called the Mosque Construction Commission, which eventually led to funding securing a home for the Muslims through the creation of a mosque in Munich. However, by 1960, the commission in Munich had fallen under control of Said Ramadan, a U.S. asset and associate of Gacaoglu, who weakened the West German government's influence by introducing Munich as a center for European Muslims instead of just West German Muslims. Gacaoglu and the U.S. would use "new" revelations of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

to further weaken the credibility of von Mende and the RSEE, thus wrestling control of the fifth columnist Muslims from the West Germans in the end.

Family and death

von Mende married Karo Espeseth, a Norwegian author, and had children, including Erling von Mende. von Mende died at his desk in Düsseldorf on December 16, 1963, of a heart attack.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mende, Gerhard Von 1904 births 1963 deaths Humboldt University of Berlin alumni German scholars German anti-communists German people of World War II Latvian emigrants to Germany